Emeree’s Blog

I have been home for a little over a week now.  No complaints about that, either.

The road out of Colorado was grueling.  I had never traveled on mountain roads before, so I was a bit unprepared for the constant up and down, not to mention the sharp twists and turns.  The roads had sand and slush on them from all the snow.  I stopped on one occasion because some washer fluid had frozen onto the nozzles and prevented me from washing the crud off my windshield, and I was having trouble seeing the road.

I do not remember how long it took me to get out of the Rockies, but Utah seemed almost empty in comparison to the towering mountains I had just driven through.  It was very rural.  I saw a sign on my travels that warned of no services for 50+ miles.  I stopped and refueled after that drive in case it happened again.  Sure enough, if I had stayed on that interstate, it would have been over a hundred miles before I saw another gas station.  Wow.  I stopped for the night a little north of Salt Lake City in the town of Tremonton.

The next day took me through the rest of Utah and into Idaho, eastern Oregon, and finally Washington.  More mountain roads, too.  Eastern Oregon and eastern Washington were quite windy.  My small car, even with all the stuff I had packed into it, was getting blown around the road.  I kept at it, though.  I reached the Cascades Mountains around 1700.  The roads were not quite as bad as the Rockies, Blue Mountains, or the other winding roads I drove down.

I made it home around 1830, which surprised my parents.  They had not expected me for at least another hour and a half.  I admitted I had been making up for lost time in the very rural parts of northern Utah and southern Idaho.

My cats are slowly adjusting to their new home and housemates.  My Siamese has so far decided she does not like my parents' cats.  However, she is slowly getting used to being around my parents.  She does not have much choice there if she wants attention.

Work goes as well as can be expected.  I am not getting lost nearly as often in the store, which is much larger than the one I transferred from.  I have restarted classes in Taekwondo, and I have several people trying to convince me to take up Thai Kickboxing, too.  I have not made that decision yet, and may not until after Thanksgiving.

What's the oldest article of clothing you own? Bonus points if you show us a photo!

The oldest thing I think I own is a sweatshirt I used to wear for orchestra in middle school.  We wore it to every concert along with a specific color of pants, depending on which grade we were in.  I am sure I probably own something older, but that is the first thing that came to mind.

That is where I am presently stuck, for lack of a better term.  I suppose I could have continued on, but my nerves were pretty much shot by the time I got here.

Let me start with yesterday.  The movers came Monday and Tuesday.  All my stuff was gone, with the exception of what I wanted to take with me in the car.  It took me longer to finish the last of the cleaning than I anticipated, so I did not get out of Oklahoma City until after 1100.  The drive out of Oklahoma and into Kansas proved uneventful.  However, it started snowing not long after I passed into Colorado.  I was bound and determined to reach Denver before stopping for the night, but my mind was changed in a matter of seconds.

I was following a truck which had a trailer.  I had been following it with little trouble for a little while.  The only problem I was having was focusing on the road instead of letting my eyes get distracted by the snow blowing at my windshield.  The truck passed over some loose snow and blew it back into my windshield.  No problem.  I slowed down and the windshield wipers took care of it.  Shortly thereafter, it happened again.  More snow this time, completely obliterating my view of the road.  Startled, I pushed on the brakes.  Not hard.  I know better.  Lightly.  However, I hit an ice patch at the same time and spun.  That was my first spin out, and I hope to never experience something like that again.  I ended up facing the opposite direction.  I was lucky.  One, there were no signs, poles, guardrails, or anything on the side of the road.  Two, the car behind me was at least half a mile back, so I avoided what could have been an ugly accident.  I managed to get my car turned back around and pulled into Limon, Colorado for the night.  I was disappointed, but I was safe, as were my cats.  Oh, apparently my Siamese is claustrophobic.  Lovely.  I just hope she quiets down somewhat tomorrow.

Today, I set out around 0900.  Visibility was not ideal, but I could see the road well enough to trudge along.  My original goal was to reach Denver, then head either north to Fort Collins and then Wyoming, or keep heading west into Utah.  I learned soon after starting out that the interstate I had hoped to take in Wyoming was closed.  Later, the interstate from Fort Collins into Wyoming closed, too.  No problem.  I decided to go west.  Well, the storm was still going on and visibility went from okay to terrifyingly dismal in a matter of seconds.  I ended up tailing a semi or two into the Denver area, hoping they would not stop suddenly, and using them as somewhat of a shield.  By the time I got to Denver, I was frazzled.  My eyes were exhausted from all the white and my ears were ringing from three hours of the Siamese's hoarse yowls.  That cat has quite the voice box.

So, I am holed up for the night.  The cats are quiet and enjoying the room.  I am enjoying dinner and hoping tomorrow will be better, as they are predicting.

I had hoped to reach Seattle tomorrow, but that probably will not happen.  I will be lucky to get to Boise, Idaho.  It all depends on the roads leading west out of Colorado.

If you could be any age again for one week, what age would you be?

Probably some point in my childhood where drama did not seem to affect me.  I was blissfully ignorant of how irritating continuous drama can be.  Of course, if this were to ever happen, I do not think I would ever want to return to my actual age.

Do you believe that honesty is the best policy?

Speaking from what I have seen over the years, especially while I was in the Air Force, yes.  It was far better for one to fess up and admit a mistake, no matter how much trouble one might be facing, than to get caught lying.  I saw several people get in significantly more trouble for lying about their involvement in incidents than they would have been originally if they had just admitted their fault.

Today is "Evaluate Your Life Day." So, tell us: how do you think you're life's going so far?

It has its ups and downs, for sure, but I am mostly content.  I will be much happier after I have moved back to Seattle and am closer to family.  I try to look for the best in life and people.  Yes, there are days where I cannot find anything good, but I still try.  I do not think life would be worth living if I was always negative.

Do you have siblings? What's your relationship like with them? Bonus points if you share a photo!

I have two younger brothers, Martin and Nathan.

I do not have much to do with the older of the two.  He has done far too much in his lifetime to deliberately hurt those he should care about the most.  I am civil to him, which is more than he deserves after some of the stuff he has done.  There have been years I could count on one hand the number of times I talked to him, and that was only because he happened to be at my parents' house when I called.  I have had people stop mid-conversation and give me strange looks after I have mentioned him.  I asked one friend what the look was for once.  His reply, "I think that is the first time you have mentioned him in at least six months." There are some people who know my parents and/or my youngest brother, but do not know my other brother exists.  Things are better than they were a couple years ago, but I do not think I will have much to do with him until he apologizes sincerely for what he has done.

The youngest brother and I, however, get along fairly well.  Granted, I think it took me leaving for the Air Force before we finally started getting along, but he has turned out to be a decent person.  Yes, there are still times I have to smack him upside the back of his head after he has done something stupid, but such events for him are few and far between.

One thing that has been rather comical for me to watch, and irritating for the youngest brother, is that people have often mistaken him for either being the twin of my other brother, or being the older of the two, usually because the younger acted more mature.  Then, they are absolutely stunned when they find out that Nathan is younger than Martin by two years.

Which do you prefer? City life or country living?

I prefer city life.  I have lived in or near the city most of my life, so being out in the country gets old after a while.  I love the landscape and the idea of having large plots of land and neighbors who are not on top of each other, but I also like the convenience of the city.

When I was in England, the base I was stationed at was in the midst of a bunch of farms.  If my friends and I wanted to go see a movie, we would have to drive to the nearest city (Cambridge), which was half an hour away (more if there was traffic).  Yes, there was a theater on base, but they were a week or two behind the theater in Cambridge.  I loved wandering around Cambridge, but having to drive all the way there to have some fun got tiring.  I definitely prefer being closer to the city.

What's the biggest frustration in your life right now?

That varies depending on the day.  Sometimes, it is something or someone at work.  Other times, it is a family member who is causing drama.  Frequently, it is drama involving one or more of my friends, though that seems to have died down a bit in recent weeks.  Some of the drama is beyond the control of those involved.  Other times, I think they seem to enjoy causing people to have headaches.  It gets old really quick.  It does get somewhat entertaining if said drama backfires in the person's face, though.

For example, my grandmother likes to cause drama.  I have no idea why, but she has been doing it for years.  Recently, a few relatives have been suggesting that her mental health is not well and that perhaps she should start looking into assisted living facilities.  She was rather irritated at such suggestions, but I got a good laugh out of it.  Maybe her drama will calm down some.  We shall see.